schooner Mildred - sunk in Treen Cove, Cornwall 1912
This is the schooner Mildred, which sunk in Treen Cove, Cornwall, United Kingdom on 8 April 1912.
The three-masted, 350-gross-ton ship was taking a load of Kaolinite (aka "china clay", used in paper-making) from Swansea, Wales to London, England. As she sailed along the Cornish coast, she a hurricane force wind, and then dead calm and thick fog.
The captain was unsure of how close he was to the coast, and no lights could be seen or foghorns heard. He thought he was past Zennor Head.
The next obstacle was Gurnard's Head, which thrust northward for a quarter-mile into the sea.
But the Mildred was much too close to the shore; she was actually deep within Treen Cove. At 12:30 AM on 8 April 1912, she struck a rock. The captain ordered the helm swung about, and she cleared the rock. She immediately hit another rock, almost bow-on. The ship could not move.
With the tide coming in, the Mildred began grinding against the rock. The captain feared she would sink, and ordered the six hands to abandon ship at 1:30 AM.
The poor crew bobbed about in pitch blackness and fog until 6:30 AM, when the rising sun began to burn off the fog. They realized they were west of the town of St Ives, and rowed six miles to get there.
Low tide was at 10 AM. Local farmers were astonished to see the Mildred was almost high and dry. But the tide was coming in, and by mid-day her decks were awash.
The crew returned to the ship in the afternoon to retrieve their personal belongs, but the ship was already breaking up.
Photograph: Gibson and Sons of Scilly (either John Gibson [1827-1920], Alexander Gendall Gibson [1857-1944], or Herbert John Gibson [1861-1937]). Photo is more than 50 years old, and in the public domain in the United Kingdom.
The photo is unpublished in the U.S. Author is dead more than 70 years, and photo is in the public domain in the United States.
Source of information about the wreck: "Cornish Schooner Ashore at Gurnard's Head". The Cornishman, 11 April 1912, page 5.
schooner Mildred - sunk in Treen Cove, Cornwall 1912
This is the schooner Mildred, which sunk in Treen Cove, Cornwall, United Kingdom on 8 April 1912.
The three-masted, 350-gross-ton ship was taking a load of Kaolinite (aka "china clay", used in paper-making) from Swansea, Wales to London, England. As she sailed along the Cornish coast, she a hurricane force wind, and then dead calm and thick fog.
The captain was unsure of how close he was to the coast, and no lights could be seen or foghorns heard. He thought he was past Zennor Head.
The next obstacle was Gurnard's Head, which thrust northward for a quarter-mile into the sea.
But the Mildred was much too close to the shore; she was actually deep within Treen Cove. At 12:30 AM on 8 April 1912, she struck a rock. The captain ordered the helm swung about, and she cleared the rock. She immediately hit another rock, almost bow-on. The ship could not move.
With the tide coming in, the Mildred began grinding against the rock. The captain feared she would sink, and ordered the six hands to abandon ship at 1:30 AM.
The poor crew bobbed about in pitch blackness and fog until 6:30 AM, when the rising sun began to burn off the fog. They realized they were west of the town of St Ives, and rowed six miles to get there.
Low tide was at 10 AM. Local farmers were astonished to see the Mildred was almost high and dry. But the tide was coming in, and by mid-day her decks were awash.
The crew returned to the ship in the afternoon to retrieve their personal belongs, but the ship was already breaking up.
Photograph: Gibson and Sons of Scilly (either John Gibson [1827-1920], Alexander Gendall Gibson [1857-1944], or Herbert John Gibson [1861-1937]). Photo is more than 50 years old, and in the public domain in the United Kingdom.
The photo is unpublished in the U.S. Author is dead more than 70 years, and photo is in the public domain in the United States.
Source of information about the wreck: "Cornish Schooner Ashore at Gurnard's Head". The Cornishman, 11 April 1912, page 5.